February 8, 2007

Royal Palace (Joe)

On our first day in Phom Penh we took a trip on a tuk tuk (motor bike and side car ) to the royal Palace. The palace look realy shiney and sparkley but apart from that it was pretty rubbish but if you are interested here is some info;
The palace/temple was first constructed during the reign of his Majesty, King Norodom, in wood ansd brick. the Seima feastival (a buddist festival during which a monument called a 'seima' is erected near the temple) took place on the 8th day of the waxing moon in the month Miek (the third month of the the lunar calender corresponding to January- Februry), during the Tiger year 2445, or thursday 5th Febuary 1903. Year after year saw the gradual deterioration of the fabric of the temple, once resulting in the near collapse which required urgent renovation. In 1962, under the royal guidance of her Majesty,Queen Kossamak Nearyreath and under the leadership of king Sihanouk, the temple was demolished and new concrete stucture was built in its place using the same architectural style and with the terrace and columns covered with marble imported from Italy.
Tthe temple is called 'Temple of the Emerald Buddha' due to the fact the main image housed inside is made of emeralds. To westerners it is often known as the Silver Pagoda, taking its name from the silver floor. The floor is completely covered with 5329 silver tiles, each tile weighing 1.125kg.
Inside the temple are 1650 artefacts, most being buddist statues, made of a variety of materials such as gold, silver and bronze, into which diamonds, sapphires, rubies and other precious stones are inlaid.

Posted by admins at 4:42 AM | Comments(0)